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Discussion on Internal Problem? my horse is acting strange, help!
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Member:
Amelia
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Posted on Friday, Sep 16, 2005 - 3:28 pm:
Hey Dr. O,
I lunged my horse yesterday with just a halter on. w/t/c. he was acting normal, with the except of...
- he puts his nose a good 4 inches into the dirt for about half a circle. He lifts his head up for a about one circle and then puts his nose down in the hogfuel again. He does this during w/t/c. and as you can imagine, he is getting hogfuel burn on his nose. So i let him stop and itch it on his boots. But that did not cure the issue he continued w/t/cantering with his nose in the ground. He actually slipped underneath himself and fell over because of this unusual action he is doing. He has never done this before. I lunged him two nights ago with a bridle on and he was fine. I have also noticed an increase in water intake. He is in a field with another horse and together they are now drinking two full buckets twice a day. ( the buckets are those white plastic barrels cut in half, pretty large. I am not sure of the exact amount.)
He has regular gut sounds. He is acting like himself, not depressed or anything. His temp. was 100*. Which is slightly high for him, but it still isn't extreme. ( His resting temp is usually 98.7). Anyways, any advice you could give me would be great. We live in Langley, B.C. if that helps,(plant posioning etc..).
Thank-you,
Amelia
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Member:
Ejar
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Posted on Friday, Sep 16, 2005 - 4:14 pm:
If all he is doing is stretching his head down, (way, way down!) he's probably just stretching the muscles across his back. My mare does this off and on during lungeing too. He'll probably quit in a day or two, but you'll probably also see him stretch again some other time.
If you DrOp your chin to your chest you can get a sense of the feeling. Feels pretty good on tense muscles!
Erin
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Member:
Amelia
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Posted on Friday, Sep 16, 2005 - 5:50 pm:
Hey Erin,
thanks for the reply. Yeah he could just be streaching the muscles across his back. I had thought about it. I usually never lunge him, and i ride dressage so maybe he really wants to streach out his body while i'm not on him. I'm going to lunge him again tonight and see what he does, hopefully he knocks it off. 
thanks again,
Amelia
P.S. i'm still keepin both eyes open for anything, if there is anything.
Thanks
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Friday, Sep 16, 2005 - 7:49 pm:
Amelia,
My mare also will occasionally stretch so far down on the lunge line that I've joked that she's going to step on her own nose one day. Usually the stretch is followed by a snort of pleasure and I can start to see her back swing more freely.
I bet your boy feels pretty good after his stretch and since you noticed the behavior the one time you lunged him only in the halter, this may have been the first time he felt free enough to stretch so far down.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 - 9:22 am:
I don't think there is a relation between the water consumption and the head being down during lunging. And if there are no other problems this is most likely behavior. I have seen some horses that lunge this way particularly if they are not lunged regularly. It is as if they are closely examining their footing/environment in a new situation.
I would be concerned about the burn and the dust so if he lunges better in the bridle maybe that is best until he stops this.
DrO
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Member:
Amelia
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 - 2:01 pm:
Thanks Dr.O and everyone, he seems to be back to normal.
Amelia
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